Blueprint: Build the Best in Cyber Defense

In a deep dive into cybersecurity, James Lyne from SANS, who specializes in tracking down cyber criminals, and Ciaran Martin, a former government official who set up the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, share invaluable insights. They discuss the ever-evolving threat landscape and the importance of proactive defense strategies. Topics include the role of Security Operations Centers, the interplay between blue teams and penetration testing, and the significance of user training against phishing attacks. Their energetic exchange balances critical knowledge with a touch of humor.

Click here to send us your ideas and feedback on Blueprint!In this episode of Blueprint, host John Hubbard sits down with James Spiteri from Elastic to explore the transformative power of AI on the SOC. They delve into how advanced AI technologies, such as agentic AI models, MCP protocol, and automation, are reshaping the SOC landscape. Discover how AI enhances SOC efficiency, reduces mundane tasks, and integrates context-aware capabilities. Learn about the real-world applications, from automation in cybersecurity operations to the challenges and promises of large language models. This discussion covers the ethical considerations, potential risks, and the promising future of SOCs powered by AI. Tune in to get inspired and see how AI might revolutionize your cyber defense strategies.Check out John's SOC Training Courses for SOC Analysts and Leaders: SEC450: Blue Team Fundamentals - Security Operations and Analysis LDR551: Building and Leader Security Operations Centers Follow and Connect with John: LinkedIn

Click here to send us your ideas and feedback on Blueprint!In this episode, we sit down with Rich Greene, a former United States Army Special Forces Green Beret and current SANS instructor for SEC275 and SEC301. Rich shares his incredible journey spanning 20 years in the Army, including his transition from military communication roles into the realm of cybersecurity. He talks about the importance of fundamentals in cybersecurity, the power of effective communication and persuasion, and dispels common misconceptions about entering the cyber field. Rich also highlights his passion for teaching and how his military background has shaped his approach to instruction and information security. Tune in for invaluable advice that applies to anyone no matter your role!. Check out John's SOC Training Courses for SOC Analysts and Leaders: SEC450: Blue Team Fundamentals - Security Operations and Analysis LDR551: Building and Leader Security Operations Centers Follow and Connect with John: LinkedIn

Click here to send us your ideas and feedback on Blueprint!In this episode, we sit down with Ryan Thompson, a seasoned expert in building dashboards that actually detect real threats—not just look pretty. With experience at Elastic, Alert Logic, and top EDR vendors, Ryan shares deep insights into the science behind effective dashboards and how security teams can cut through the noise to find the threats on your network.We cover:Why most SOC dashboards fail to deliver real insights—and how to fix them.The right way to structure dashboards for SIEM, EDR, and threat hunting.How to visualize security data effectively to make detection faster.The balance between automation, alerts, and analyst intuition.If you’re a SOC analyst, detection engineer, or security leader looking to elevate your dashboard game and sharpen your cyber threat detection skills, this is an episode you won’t want to miss!Check out John's SOC Training Courses for SOC Analysts and Leaders: SEC450: Blue Team Fundamentals - Security Operations and Analysis LDR551: Building and Leader Security Operations Centers Follow and Connect with John: LinkedIn

Kickstart your New Year with a personal system for productivity that can help align your life with your goals for 2025. Discover a three-step approach to achieve career aspirations by breaking down objectives and prioritizing tasks. Learn to draw insights from successful individuals to stay motivated and overcome hurdles. Small, achievable steps can make a big difference, and a 'done list' can help you celebrate progress while aligning daily tasks with long-term dreams. Embrace a healthier approach to productivity!

Click here to send us your ideas and feedback on Blueprint!Mark Morowczynski returns for his 4th(!) time with his Microsoft coworker and identity and authentication expert Tarek Dawoud in this incredibly insightful conversation on the what, why, and how of  phishing resistant credentials that YOU can implement right now! This conversation covers:What makes MFA phishable?What phishing resistant credentials are and how they workThe history and modern methods for phishing resistant credentialsWhat attacks will be used once we move to phishing resistant credentials, and how to prevent and detect itHow verified digital identities and corporate identification can help further reduce risk of help desk based attacksShifting the culture to adopt a passwordless loginKey logs to detect identity attacksResources for learning KQLEpisode Links:Tarek Explains Phishing Resistant Authentication: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wtwUh6iyxYMicrosoft Digital Defense Report: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/security-insider/intelligence-reports/microsoft-digital-defense-report-2024Nuance: https://www.nuance.com/index.htmlBook - The Definitive Guide to KQL: https://www.microsoftpressstore.com/store/definitive-guide-to-kql-using-kusto-query-language-9780138293383 KQL Github Repo: github.com/kqlmspress Kusto Detective Agency: https://detective.kusto.io/Check out John's SOC Training Courses for SOC Analysts and Leaders: SEC450: Blue Team Fundamentals - Security Operations and Analysis LDR551: Building and Leader Security Operations Centers Follow and Connect with John: LinkedIn

Click here to send us your ideas and feedback on Blueprint!In this mega-discussion with Seth Misenar on GenAI and LLM usage for security operations we cover some very interesting questions such as: - The importance of natural language processing in Sec Ops- How AI is helping us detect phishing email- Where and how AI is lowering the bar for entry-level security SOC roles- Should we worry about AI hallucinations or AI taking our jobs?- What is a reasoning model and how is it different than what we've seen so far?- The future of AI - Multimodal interaction, Larger Context Windows, RAG, and more- What is Agentic AI and why will it change the game?Episode Links:The book from Manning Seth liked as a thoughtful accessible on-ramp: https://www.manning.com/books/introduction-to-generative-aiCoursera prompt engineering course series: https://coursera.org/specializations/prompt-engineeringGandalf Online Prompt Injection Challenges from Lakera (FYI Seth finds a lot of Lakera’s content to be really high-quality and useful): https://gandalf.lakera.ai/baseline“Nonsense on stilts” reference from Gary Marcus in response to the Google employee claiming LaMDA was sentient: https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/nonsense-on-stilts?utm_source=twitter&sd=pf. AI as a monster with a smiley face image: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/shoggoth-with-smiley-face-artificial-intelligenceEthan Mollick is the Wharton professor Seth mentioned, Seth says his “One Useful Thing” Substack is a valuable and thought provoking source: https://www.oneusefulthing.org/. Also his book, Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, would also be worth checking out: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bookCheck out John's SOC Training Courses for SOC Analysts and Leaders: SEC450: Blue Team Fundamentals - Security Operations and Analysis LDR551: Building and Leader Security Operations Centers Follow and Connect with John: LinkedIn

Click here to send us your ideas and feedback on Blueprint!In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of a complex gift card fraud investigation. Join host John Hubbard and guest Mark Jeanmougin as they explore the intricate details of uncovering and combating a clever case of cyber fraud. In this episode Mark discusses how the incident was identified, investigated, contained, and what lessons were learned along the way.Episode Links:- Mark's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markjx/- Mark's Teaching Schedule: https://www.sans.org/profiles/mark-jeanmougin/Check out John's SOC Training Courses for SOC Analysts and Leaders: SEC450: Blue Team Fundamentals - Security Operations and Analysis LDR551: Building and Leader Security Operations Centers Follow and Connect with John: LinkedIn

Click here to send us your ideas and feedback on Blueprint!Have you ever wondered what it takes to write and publish an information security book? In this special bonus episode following season 4, John discusses with Kathryn, Ingrid, and Carson the challenges and rewards of self-publishing, and the kind of effort that goes into producing a book like "11 Strategies of a World-Class Cybersecurity Operations Center".This special season of the Blueprint Podcast is taking a deep dive into MITRE’s 11 Strategies of a World-Class Cyber Security Operations Center. Each episode John will break down a chapter of the book with the book’s authors Kathryn Knerler, Ingrid Parker, and Carson Zimmerman.-----------Support for the Blueprint podcast comes from the SANS Institute.If you like the topics covered in this podcast and would like to learn more about blue team fundamentals such as host and network data collection, threat detection, alert triage, incident management, threat intelligence, and more, check out my new course SEC450: Blue Team Fundamentals.This course is designed to bring attendees the information that every SOC analyst and blue team member needs to know to hit the ground running, including 15 labs that get you hands on with tools for threat intel, SIEM, incident management, automation and much more, this course has everything you need to launch your blue team career.Check out the details at sansurl.com/450 Hope to see you in class!Check out John's SOC Training Courses for SOC Analysts and Leaders: SEC450: Blue Team Fundamentals - Security Operations and Analysis LDR551: Building and Leader Security Operations Centers Follow and Connect with John: LinkedIn

This podcast covers topics such as threat hunting, red and purple teaming, breach and attack simulation, tabletop exercises, cyber deception, and expanding SOC functionality. It emphasizes the importance of proactive approaches in cybersecurity, the value of documentation and processes, and the challenges and considerations in expanding SOC functionality. The speakers also discuss the benefits of threat hunting and red teaming, different testing methodologies for evaluating SOC effectiveness, the importance of tabletop exercises for incident response, and the concept of deception in cybersecurity.